


I Wouldn't Mind

by KatherineAJones



Category: Lovely Little Losers, Nothing Much to Do
Genre: (one word), Boys Kissing, I still haven't mastered this tagging thing, Kissing, Light Swearing, M/M, Pedro is Peter, just those are the major two, proposal, the whole crew really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 14:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4525116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatherineAJones/pseuds/KatherineAJones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been ten years since he and Peter started dating. At this point in time, Balthazar's starting to think about commitment, but he's not so sure Peter's thinking about the same. Que Plan Music. </p><p>~</p><p>This story might be adjusted depending on what canon does, but I will wait until all of LLL is up and over before changing it. For example, if Peter goes back to Pedro, I will change his name in this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Wouldn't Mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haleingoutside](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haleingoutside/gifts), [Mia_Pond](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mia_Pond/gifts).



> Dear Haley and Amelia, 
> 
> Consider this your "good luck with senior year (I know you'll rock it)/to help you cope with the LLL feels/thanks for being awesome" present. 
> 
> Haley, this is also a "thanks for getting me into this, you stinker" present.
> 
> Amelia, this is also a "I'm sorry I'm such a stinker and got you into this" present.
> 
> Also, thank you to both of you for you help on this!
> 
>  
> 
> To the rest of you, I thought I would help out with the "WHAT IS GOING ON BETWEEN THIS 'PETER' GUY AND BALTH?!?! THIS ISN'T RIGHT!!!!!" feels. Plus, I've been wanting to do a proposal fic for ages now and I finally came up with a decent plot for it.
> 
> Balth plays a gig in this, so I thought I would provide the set list for you in case any of you want to listen to it:   
> New Beginnings - Reuben Hudson  
> Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons  
> Not in Nottingham/The Enemy - Reuben Hudson  
> One Sweet Love - Sara Bareilles  
> Sparks - Reuben Hudson  
> Only Love - Ben Howard  
> If I Didn’t Darlin’ - Reuben Hudson  
> You and Me - Lifehouse  
> Don’t Matter To Me - Reuben Hudson  
> I Wouldn’t Mind - He is We  
> Although "I Wouldn't Mind" is also played earlier in the fic, so you might consider looking that one up first if you aren't familiar with it. I, obviously, don't own any of those songs.
> 
> Enjoy!

Balthazar looked sleepily across the breakfast table to where Peter was practically falling asleep in his cereal. He smiled, thinking of all the mornings they had sat just like this in the past. After sleepovers in secondary school, before morning classes in university, and for the past seven years since they graduated and moved in together.

Peter’s head dipped forward toward his breakfast and then pitched backwards with a startled look on his face. He grunted and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to wake himself up. When he noticed Balthazar smiling at him, he returned the smile and asked, “What are you thinking about that’s got you so happy so early in the morning?”

Balthazar shrugged, “Nothing in particular. Memories. Life. You.”

Peter’s smile turned into a grin, “Oh yeah? What about me?”

Balthazar laughed a little and replied, “All the times we’ve done this: sat across from each other at the breakfast table. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been dating for almost ten years.”

Peter snorted and raised his eyebrows for a second before they settled back into place, “You’re telling me. I never thought a guy like you would want to stick with a guy like me for so long.”

"What do you mean someone like you?" Balthazar asked, smirking, "Do you mean someone strong, smart, friendly, and loving?"

Peter shrugged, returning the smirk, "I don't know what I mean by 'someone like me' but I know that for 'someone like you' I meant someone caring, funny, creative, brilliant, and amazing."

Balthazar raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you think you can beat me with one more adjective than I listed?"

Peter pursed his lips together, trying to suppress a grin, "Maybe."

Balthazar leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table and a mysterious glint in his eyes, "Alright then, Mr. Donaldson. You are hilarious, and can always make me laugh. You are handsome, especially in blue. You are down to earth, which is just what I need with my crazy ideas and tendency to put everything aside for the music. You are ambitious, which keeps me ambitious. You are gifted in making people feel comfortable; in making me feel comfortable, which I’m grateful for because of how uncomfortable I can become in the social situations that come with people actually knowing who you are.” Balthazar gave Peter a look that very clearly said, “Beat that.”

Peter raised a single eyebrow, challenging Balthazar’s challenge, “You, my darling, are an absolute angel, which I know you hear all the time, but it’s so true; there is nothing you would not do for someone and I love that about you, how selfless you are. You are patient, which we both know is something I need to work on. You are incredibly talented and I’m so blessed that I get to listen to your music every day. You are an excellent lifter-upper of spirits, and I will forever be grateful that you got me out of my rut at uni. You are adorable, even all these years later, and I’m glad you kept the crazy hair. You are loyal and trustworthy, and will keep any secret someone tells you, and can be counted on to be there for someone when they need you. You are ethical and have wonderful morals, which I find invaluable because I don’t all the time, so I can always count on you to point me right. You are wise, knowing when you need to get involved and knowing when you need to stay out of it. You, too, are ambitious and as you said, your ambition helps me be ambitious. And I think a good wrap up of all of your qualities is that you are understanding. You know what to do when: when to push, when to back down, what to say, what not to say. But most importantly, you understand me. You know when I’m spending too much time inside my head and how to get me out of it. You accept the best and the worst parts of me and love them all equally, and I will never be as good as you, but you push me to try, and I’m glad of that.”

Balthazar blinked a few times, surprised and trying to keep down the tears that speech brought to his throat. When he thought he could speak without sounding like a dried out toad, he sighed and teasingly said, “I guess you win, then. But one day, I will beat you.”

“Damn straight, I did. And no you won’t,” Pedro replied, smirking.

Balthazar rolled his eyes but let it slide with a smile. He knew they would be doing this another time. They always did. Which reminded Balthazar…

He had been thinking a lot lately about marriage. Ten years was a long time to be in a relationship, but Balthazar was finally feeling old enough to be married. They had both spent a long time creating and solidifying their careers and were both doing well. It was time.

That said, he wasn’t really sure how to go about it. He and Peter had never talked about it before, so he didn’t know if his boyfriend even wanted to marry. So Balthazar had worked out a plan.

“Hey, so, while you’re here and neither of us are too busy, I wanted to run a song by you for my gig next Saturday.” It was a common enough request that Peter wouldn’t suspect anything, and it was a way to gauge his reaction to being together forever.

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Why don’t you go grab your guitar and I’ll clean up breakfast?”

Balthazar nodded and headed up the stairs to his studio. Peter took a deep breath and then released it slowly before standing up.

Their little sessions of complimenting each other became lengthier every time, and every time Peter became more and more scared that he would reveal something before either of them were ready.

He had bought a ring a couple of month ago. Nothing too extravagant, just a simple gold band with the words “love; it will set you free” engraved inside. Now all he needed was the right time to propose.

Peter would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared as hell. It wasn’t about the commitment or the “forever” or any of that. No, he was ready to spend the rest of his life with Balthazar. Wanted to spend the rest of his life with Balthazar. He was just scared Balthazar wouldn’t feel the same way. He didn’t know if he could stand it if the sweet musician said no.

Balthazar came back downstairs, smiling and with his guitar in tow. “Okay, the song is called ‘I Wouldn’t Mind’ and it’s by He is We. I love the music, but I’m trying to decide if the lyrics seem alright.” He sat down at the table again, falling into the familiar position of his guitar propped on his knee and his arm resting on the body of the instrument. He took a deep, fortifying breath and then began:

 

_Merrily we fall_

_Out of line, out of line_

_I’d fall anywhere with you_

_I’m by your side_

 

_Swinging in the rain_

_Humming melodies_

_We're not going anywhere until we freeze_

__

_I’m not afraid, anymore_

_I’m not afraid_

__

_Forever is a long time_

_But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side_

__

_Carefully we're placed for our destiny_

_You came and you took this heart, and set it free_

_Every word you write or sing is so warm to me, so warm to me_

_I’m torn, I’m torn to be right where you are_

__

_I’m not afraid, anymore_

_I’m not afraid_

__

_Forever is a long time_

_But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side_

_Tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile_

_I wouldn't mind it at all_

_I wouldn't mind it at all_

__

_You so know me_

_Pinch me gently_

_I can hardly breathe_

__

_Forever is a long, long time_

_But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side_

_Tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile_

_I wouldn't mind it at all_

_I wouldn't mind it at all_

Peter wasn’t sure if he was breathing. He knew he didn’t have to worry about Balth saying no, at least from the sound of it, and he knew he couldn’t keep quiet forever, but he also knew he was freaking out. Did Balthazar know he had been planning on proposing? Was he trying to get Peter to do it soon? Or was he going to propose to Peter?

As the questions spun around loudly and incessantly in Peter’s head, his mouth stayed silent, not giving Balthazar a response one way or another. “Peter?” Balthazar prompted, worried he had pushed too soon and Peter wasn’t taking it well.

Peter snapped back to the present and shook his head a bit to clear it, “Oh, um. I think it sounds good, but you know that I’m perfectly happy to hear you sing anything. I don’t see anything wrong with singing it.” Actually, as he thought about it, the idea appealed more and more. He could work with this. With new ideas buzzing in his head, Peter hardly noticed when he distractedly said, “I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you later.”

“Oh, okay,” Balthazar replied, disappointed and upset. “See you then, I guess. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Peter replied, standing up and pecking Balthazar’s cheek before wandering out to his car and driving off.

Blinking back tears again, but for an entirely different reason this time, Balthazar stood to return his guitar to his studio. Unfortunately, he now realized, he would have to play the song at his next gig. Peter would be expecting it, and it would seem weird now for him to not play it. He wished he had never thought of the idea in the first place.

~ ~ ~

Peter nervously wiped his palms on his jeans, willing them to stop sweating. Everything was planned, everyone was ready. Now all that needed to happen was the actual proposal. Easy-peasy.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” he muttered to Ben.

“Nah, you’ll be fine, mate,” Ben replied, slapping him on the back.

Peter glared at his friend through the corner of his eye, “That didn’t help anything.”

“Ooookay then, backing away now,” Ben looked uneasily at Peter, stepping to the side just in case he did get sick. “Why don’t you head back stage and give Balth one final pep-talk. I’m sure he’s nervous and could use it.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right,” Peter agreed and then started to push through the crowd to make it backstage before the show started. It took longer than he would have liked, but he was proud of his boyfriend for being so good that he was able to draw this many people.

When he finally arrived backstage, Peter was glad Ben had sent him because Balthazar was pacing a hole into the floor, something he only did when he was really nervous.

“Hey there, angel,” Peter smiled when Balthazar looked up, “You doing alright?”

“Hi,” Balthazar breathed, “I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty nervous.”

Peter took Balthazar’s hands and kissed the back of each of them, “You’ll be great; you always are. And I’ll be out in the crowd, cheering you on, just like all of your other fans out there. Just remember, they love you. They want to love you. They will forgive you if you make a mistake, and that’s a big if. But none of them will ever love you as much as I do.” Peter smiled again and pressed a kiss to Balthazar’s cheek, making Balth smile back.

Balthazar took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then let it out. He opened his eyes again and replied, “Thanks, you always know what to say when I’m freaking myself out. I needed that.” He leaned up a bit to press his lips to Peter’s and murmured, “I love you.”

Peter kissed him back, “I love you, too. I’ll see you after the show.”

Balthazar nodded and then stepped back a pace, “See you then.”

They parted, Balth heading to pick up his guitar before going out on stage, Peter heading back to the front of the stage to rejoin his friends.

“How’s he doing?” Ursula asked.

“He’ll be great. I think I calmed the pre-show nerves.”

The group nodded and turned to the stage as Balthazar walked out to cheers, but they were by far the loudest group.

Balthazar grinned and waved a bit, waiting for the noise to die down. “Hi everyone, I hope you are all having a good evening.” More cheering. “I’m excited to play for you all tonight and glad you could all make it. I have to confess, I’ve always prefered these smaller settings to the big stage. I reckon it feels more intimate, yeah?” Cheers again. “I don’t know if you know this,” Balthazar smiled, starting to strum his guitar a bit, “but I used to play here back when I went to Messina High when I was the school’s music geek. 'Course, I couldn't drink back then." The crowd laughed at Balthazar's grin and eyebrow wiggle. "I always had some instrument with me. Usually one of my uke because it was easier to carry, but one of my guitars was a pretty common sight too. When I was at Messina High, I didn’t have quite the repertoire I have now, so I sang a lot of covers at my gigs. Being back here made me want to do some covers, so I hope you don’t mind if I do some this evening.” People cheered again. “I wanted to start with one that I wrote, though, so I decided on 'New Beginnings' because I feel it’s pretty relevant at this point in my life.” With that, he started his set to another cheer from the crowd.

_Drunk too much last night I’ll forget_

_Anything that’s real that we said,_

_Ain’t got no worries hanging over me,_

_Ain’t got no pounding in my head_

After the last strum, there were cheers and Balthazar waited for them to quiet down before he said, “I’m sure many of you know by now that Mumford & Sons is one of my all time favorite bands, and it hardly felt right to do a gig here without playing one of their songs. While we’re on the topic of secondary school, this next song was a great favorite of mine and I think the video of me singing it in Year 13 is still floating around somewhere on Youtube, but anyway, I thought I would bring it back tonight.” He began the intro for "Sigh No More" and Peter couldn’t help but smile a bit.

_Serve God love me and men_

_This is not the end_

_Live unbruised we are friends_

_And I'm sorry_

_I'm sorry_

Balthazar moved to the piano for his next song, “When I was a kid, my favorite movie was Robin Hood. When I heard 'The Enemy' I figured they would make a pretty good mash-up. Plus, again, Mumford & Sons. I told you they are one of my favorites!” 

_Every town_

_Has its ups and down_

_Sometime the ups_

_Outnumber the downs_

He continued on through his set, giving little anecdotes as he went along. After the mash-up was "One Sweet Love" by Sara Bareilles, his own song "Sparks," Ben Howard’s "Only Love," his song "If I Didn’t Darlin’," "You and Me" by Lifehouse, and his "Don’t Matter To Me."

“My last song is one I wasn’t so sure about, but my boyfriend told me to do it. So, Peter, this one’s for you.” Balthazar glanced at Peter, took a deep breath, and then began.

_Merrily we fall_

_Out of line, out of line_

_I’d fall anywhere with you_

_I’m by your side_

When he finished the song, he took another deep breath, smiled, and then told the crowd, “I’d like to thank you again for coming out to see me tonight. I’ll see you around!” He walked off the stage to clapping and cheers with a smile on his face.

Once off stage, Balthazar paused and took a steadying breath before going out to find his friends.

"You were fantastic!" Meg said as soon as he came out. He smiled and said thank you, hugging her. The rest followed with similar praise and he thanked them, too. Finally, he turned to Peter to see his reaction.

Peter smiled and pulled him in for a kiss, "Wonderful. And, of course, genuine, as always." They laughed at the joke and Balthazar was relieved to see Peter wasn't freaking out. A little nervous energy, maybe, but not freaking out. Maybe Peter would be ready to be married in a few years. Balthazar could wait.

They hung out for a bit, drinking and telling a few stories that hadn't been shared yet and a few others that they all knew by heart. Peter didn't have anything to drink. When asked, he always explained that he'd had enough forgotten nights at university to last him a lifetime.

A few people came up to Balthazar during the evening to tell him that he had done a great job, but for the most part people just smiled and nodded their head if he ended up looking their way, respecting his privacy and time with his friends.

As time went by, the bar crowd started to thin and before the friends knew it, they were the loudest thing in the room. Finally, at about ten, the group realized that none of them had eaten dinner yet and many of them were hungry. Almost all of them agreed that a pizza was in order, but when Ben asked Peter and Balth if they were coming, Peter smiled mischievously and apologized, saying he and Balth had special plans for their tenth anniversary.

Balthazar missed Ben's understanding wink when he looked up at Peter, confused. "We do? It seems a bit odd to have reservations at this hour." While Balthazar didn't mind that they would be by themselves for the evening (being around so many people for so long had him feeling worn out), he was surprised Peter was giving up pizza.

Peter just smirked and said, "They're a surprise."

With that, the group said their last goodbyes and parted ways.

On the car ride back to their house, it was quiet except for the music that always seemed to be in the background of Peter's life. He blamed Balthazar. Whenever Peter looked over at Balthazar, his boyfriend seemed lost in thought and half asleep, which he knew from experience was never a good time to have a conversation. 

When they got back home, Peter could tell he had made the right choice in providing an alternative to Balthazar going out and having pizza. The guy looked dead on his feet.

"So," Balthazar asked, yawning, "what are these oh so special plans that made you skip pizza with everyone?"

Peter smiled and drew Balthazar into his arms, "You."

Balthazar's forehead crinkled in confusion, "What?"

Peter shrugged, "I know how you get after concerts. You're always so tired and I can tell you find being around so many people exhausting, so I decided we should go home and have dinner."

Balthazar looked up at Peter for a moment with a blank look on his face before suddenly leaning up to press his lips to Peter's, more forceful than usual. Peter responded in kind and it was several moments before Balthazar moved back enough to murmur, "I'm glad you know me so well."

Peter smiled again and pressed another kiss to Balthazar's lips before asking, "So, what do you want for dinner?"

"Honestly," Balthazar laughed, "cereal would be great."

Peter laughed too and replied, "Two bowls of cereal coming right up."

They moved to the kitchen and Peter insisted that Balthazar sit down while he made their dinner, saying that it wasn't as if he could burn cereal and milk, especially not with Balthazar in the room. When they were both sitting down, Balthazar was reminded of a morning just a few days ago when they were in very similar positions. He shook the thought from his mind.

They talked of nothing in particular, just enjoying each other's company. Balthazar liked those kinds of conversations with Peter. It wasn't until they were done that Peter brought up what had been making him nervous all night long.

"Balthazar, I..." Peter hesitated, doubting for a moment that this was what Balthazar would really want. After all, he had made some pretty big mistakes. But then he remembered the song Balthazar had sung, and reminded himself that Balth would not have stuck with him this long if he didn't want to. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to fully and accurately tell you just how much you mean to me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to express how much I love you. I don't know if I'll ever truly feel I deserve your forgiveness, your love, your goodness. But if you'll let me, I'd like to spend the rest of our lives finding out if I can." He pulled the ring box from his pocket and opened it, revealing the ring he had picked out, and knelt down beside his boyfriend, "So, Stanley Balthazar Jones, will you marry me?"

Balthazar was speechless. Actually, that was understating it. Balthazar Jones, the guy that constantly had snippets of music and lyrics and ideas dancing around in his head was at that moment unable to form any sort of thought, let alone a sentence. For all the times he had thought out how their proposal would go, who would do it, where it would be, he had had never imagined Peter kneeling beside him on the hard floor of their kitchen after a gig and a dinner of cereal.

Peter started to fidget from his place on the floor. No one had ever told him that the seconds seemed to drag on torturously as you waited for an answer, terrified it would be no, no matter how certain you had been beforehand that the answer would be yes. "Balthazar?" He finally asked, wanting to get the answer - whatever it would be - over with.

The seemed to bring back Balthazar's attention. "Yes." Balthazar blinked and focused in on Peter’s face. A wide grin spread over his own, “Yes! Absolutely yes!” Laughing, he launched himself onto Peter, sending them both tumbling to the floor. He caught Peter’s lips in a desperate, overwhelming, bursting-with-love kiss the moment he found them, determined to show Peter just how much he was willing to marry him.

Somehow, between all of the kissing, Balthazar managed to get out, “I thought you didn’t want to get married! You freaked out when I first brought it up with 'I Wouldn’t Mind'!”

Peter couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s because I thought you had figured it out! I thought you were telling me you knew I was going to propose to you, and I was disappointed because I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Balthazar froze, shocked, “You...you were going to propose to me?’

Peter drew his eyebrows together, “Well, yeah. I mean, I just did.”

“No, no, no, not that. I...I thought I was introducing you to the idea. I thought you hadn’t thought of it.”

Peter raised an eyebrow, “You might have had to sing me a song to get me to realize that I liked you, but I’m not going to ever let it take a song again for me to realize something important like that.”

Balthazar didn’t really know what to say to that, so he just leaned back in to kiss Peter some more. Somehow, they eventually made it up the stairs to the bedroom. Balthazar only stopped kissing Peter long enough to admire the simple ring when Peter slipped it onto his finger, happiness bubbling in his chest when Peter told him about the quote, and then they were falling into bed together.

~ ~ ~

Balthazar opened his eyes slowly, checking for a headache. There was a dull pain, but he seemed to have avoided anything too major. He brought his hands up to rub the sleep away from his eyes but stopped when he felt something cold on his finger. He had stared at it for an entire minute before his brain processed what it was.

He glanced up at Peter for a moment, expecting to see him asleep, but was surprised to find him staring back, smiling softly.

It took a moment for him to find the works, but eventually Balthazar sputtered out, “You actually...We’re...I-I thought...I thought it was a dream.”

Peter’s smile grew at those words and he took Balthazar’s hand in his own, bringing it to his lips and making Balthazar blush. He murmured against the skin, “No, it wasn’t a dream. Yes, we’re engaged. Yes, I finally worked up the courage to propose.”

Balthazar smiled and leaned in to kiss Peter, this one a lot softer and slower than the ones the night before. When they parted, he confessed, “I thought I was going to have to wait a few more years. I didn’t want to push you into it before you were ready.”

Peter laughed a bit, “I’ll be honest, I’ve been ready for a while. I was just nervous that you weren’t ready. But the song convinced me that you were.”

Balthazar couldn’t help but laughing, too, “We’re idiots.”

Peter grinned, “But now we get to be idiots together for the rest of our lives.”

Balthazar had to say, he really liked the sound of that.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked that little piece! I haven't decided if I'll do a sequel wedding yet, but the likelihood is pretty low unless I get a fantastic idea that just won't leave my head, because school is starting soon and that means I won't have very much time for writing. Ah well. Maybe I'll do a quick (haha, yeah, my one-shots never end up actually being anywhere near the definition of "quick"...) thing of what happens with Peter leaves after Balth sings "I Wouldn't Mind" for the first time. I don't know.
> 
> If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll try to clarify it. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Have a great weekend!  
> -Katherine


End file.
